I Swear, I'm Lying: A St Faberry fanfic
by benedicking
Summary: Jesse St. James is stuck between two beautiful girls: who will he pick?
1. Chapter 1

I Swear, I'm Lying

A St. Faberry FanFic

Chapter 1

Finn was distant, strange, and elusive. Rachel wondered why he wouldn't kiss her deeply anymore, with feeling, like he used to. And she wondered why she still imagined it was Jesse's lips she was kissing.

Quinn was all normal again; everybody said so. She was as skinny as ever, as popular as ever. Maybe the baby drama blew over, she thought. The only remnant she had from her one night mistake was Puck. For some reason, she's been longing to get rid of it.

Jesse knew that coming back was a mistake. The whole school hated him, he was sure of that. There was just something left unfinished. Maybe it was Rachel, and the way he dreamed of her at night. Or maybe it was the other dream that just kept haunting him: the girl with the rounded belly, the girl whose name eluded him, the girl who kept him up at night, the girl who kept him singing air supply in his sleep.

Quinn knows she's dreaming. She can barely feel the twitch of her toes, the consciousness starting to seep in. She knows she is dreaming. But this doesn't stop her from wishing it was real. _Oh, if it could be real. _

Jesse's walking down the hall with Rachel. They are very obviously fighting, with Rachel's face bright with emotion and tears. He's trying to convince her of something, his hands moving quickly and jerkily, his eyes darting this way and that, but never coming off of Rachel's face. _That is, until he sees me. _

He sets eyes on Quinn, and his speech is slurred. He stumbles in his tracks, his eyes suddenly lighting up. Rachel slumps against a locker, obviously given up. _That's how I know it's a dream. Rachel would just scream, tear him away, and never give it a second thought. _

"What's your name?" Jesse asks. Even in the dream, Quinn's heart beats. Consciousness is becoming stronger. Her pulse is getting faster. He never even spoke to her in real life.

"I'm—" she begins, but Jesse stops her, putting a finger to her lips.

She fights waking up, fights it like never before.

"I think we can skip names for right now," he says, pulling her into the deepest and most amazing kiss she's ever known.

And she hates her alarm clock more than the devil himself.

Jesse braces himself for what's awaiting him as soon as he steps in his former high school's doors. _Damn this, what am I doing here?_

He doesn't even know what the feeling is that led him here. That's all this is. Feeling. A feeling torn between Rachel and who knows what, risking his perfectly symmetrical face in a fight between that Neanderthal Noah Puckerman and Finn. He had an audition coming up. Why would he risk it?

Because she was worth all of it. Rachel? Yes, she was worth it too. But that girl…those dreams…he was almost scared to admit how much he thought about her. Last week, he forgot what her face looked like. _That's why I have to come back. _

"Finn? Of course this is Rachel, who else would it be? I…I'm on my way. There's really bad traffic. Oh, what? No, I _know_ where I live, fool. I stopped at the gym before school and there's a lot of traffic around that intersection, you know that. Yes, I'm stopped. No, I'm not talking while driving. _Yes, that's illegal. _Talk to you at school. Mmhmm. Yes, I will meet you at your locker. _No, I do not have snacks. _Bye."

She nervously put down her sequined phone, shaking. She was getting herself into deep trouble, standing here. She stood nervously behind the shadow of her car, anticipating her next move. She was here, and she couldn't run away. She never could. It was silly to imagine running away. She had only wished that neither of them had run.

"Well, well. Rachel Berry. Lying about where you are? And to your boyfriend too? Tsk tsk."

"Jesse St. James."

"Don't say it like it's a swear word. I've missed you."

And just like that, it was all just one more re-run, without the egging. It was one more perfect day.

Jesse wondered how he could have ever hurt her. But the other girl lingered in his mind, and somehow he felt evil giving Rachel false hope. She had absolutely no idea.

Quinn's stomach dropped. She knew she shouldn't have come to school hated the awkwardness of walking through the back lot of the school. She imagined she'd find some couple making out in the parking lot, but the one person she didn't expect to see was Rachel. Instantly, she saw curly hair, and knew it wasn't Finn. Her breathing became hitched. And when she saw Jesse on the other side, she had no idea why she ran into the girls bathroom, sobbing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Finn came to school, looking around his locker for Rachel. _She said she'd be here._

He spotted Quinn walking down the hall. Even after having a baby, she was still pure perfection.

"Quinn! Quinn! Hey, have you seen Rachel?"

Quinn froze. She was stuck. Completely, utterly, stuck. "Rachel, uhmm, funny story. Rachel's…"

"Hey man." Jesse St. James sauntered up to Fiinn like he was his best friend. Obviously him and Rachel's make-out session pumped up him self-esteem to enormous amounts.

"Dude." Finn backed up and slammed his locker shut. "Don't _even_ talk to me."

Jesse sighed, and took a step back. Quinn realized how tall Finn was at the point. A fair fight wouldn't even be existent. But if they had a sing off, Jesse would win, hands down.

"Listen, I know I've made mistakes."

Finn laughed bitterly. "Dude, mistakes don't even begin to cover what you've done. You egged my girlfriend. Had Mr. Schue not stopped me, you would not exist right now. So please, don't make me ruin your face."

Quinn giggled, and it came out more loudly than it should have. For the first time in…well, ever, she locked eyes with Jesse St. James.

Her. In front of him. The girl he had been dreaming about. She was standing in front of him, laughing her head off.

"Wait, do I know you?"

Finn shook his head. "Quinn, I asked you, have you seen Rachel?"

"She has a meeting with Mr. Schuester about glee club ideas," Jesse answered nonchalantly.

Suddenly, Finn's strong fist comes out of nowhere and pushes Jesse against the locker. Every sound in the hallway is silent. No one dares to talk. Finn has picked his enemy.

"Jesse. We're going to make this either really quick, or really painful." Finn is shouting. His face is red, his muscles tense, sweat starting to form on his brow.

"WHY. DO YOU KNOW. WHERE. MY GIRLFRIEND. IS."

Finn is literally screaming. Jesse shakes out of his iron grasp and straightens out his prep-school vest.

"Please, just, calm down. I saw her walking that way."

Finn still doesn't believe him. And why should he?

"You wouldn't know unless you had talked to Rachel. And you better not have talked to Rachel, or there will be HELL to pay."

Oh, there was a whole lot more than talking going on.

And then she steps in, and practically saves his life.

"He must have overheard me talking to Rachel. We talked for a little bit this morning as she was rushing to Mr. Schuester for a meeting. Please, don't kill him, Finn."

Finn contemplates it for a moment.

"Fine. I won't kill you Jesse. But I will leave you with something to remember."

And before Jesse can even scream, Finn decks him.

He then slowly walks away.

And there is only one thing Quinn can do.

"Oh my God, Jesse. Damn, Finn hit you hard. Are you okay?"

"Wow. You're beautiful. Did you know that?"

And that's when he blacks out.

The first thing he remembers is cold. Cold cutting through his cheekbone.

Aaaand there goes his symmetrical face.

But then he looks up, and he sees her. And it's not a dream. Symmetrical face or not, it's worth it. He's feeling like a total jackass right now.

"Ah! That hurts! Mmm." He tries to clamp down on his jaw, but that hurts too.

Quinn reaches down and soothes his cheek with her hand. He has a strange urging to grab her hand, hold it, twist his fingers in between hers. For some reason, he wants to know how it feels. To step beyond the dream, into this reality. It's unfolding before him, and he likes it. He likes how she takes care of him. He likes how she makes him feel. He likes how he feels right now, if it weren't for the searing pain in his jaw. He thinks she looks perfect, with her blonde hair twisted up into a braid on her left, her Cheerios uniform fit snugly around her. He just wonders and sits there, while she ices up his jaw and she smooths back his hair. He thinks he could want this all. But in the back of his brain, a painful memory, he hears it: him and Rachel's first meeting. Their magnetism, their chemistry, the beauty of their voices. He can't leave it all behind, _he just can't. _

And the fact that Quinn is leaning on his chest really isn't helping matters much either.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

He couldn't even tell you how he got here: from the bathroom and being tempted by Quinn, to the darkened glee club room where he spent some of the best days of his life.

"I'm telling you Rachel, _nothing happened. _She was just cleaning me off after your boyfriend so viciously decided to ruin my face."

She hated the way he said boyfriend. It was vicious, evil, angry.

"I'm sorry Jesse, I just…I lost you once. I don't know if I could bear losing you again. It hurts too much."

He hated that feeling, the feeling of letting her down, like when he walked out of the Glee Club room after singing Total Eclipse of the Heart, running away to spring break, escaping after egging her. It seemed like all he did was run away, and damn it, he was tired of it. Now he didn't want a getaway.

He grabbed her arm, forcing her to look up. Her eyes pierced through him. What felt so amazing was that she trusted him. She didn't just take this as a casual hookup. She knew what they had was real, and she was willing to fight for it.

"You have to tell me that you'll dump Finn for me, Rachel. And God help me, I mean it. I don't want him getting all the glory for having you. I want you, Rachel. I want everyone to know that you're mine. And no one else's."

Her heart was beating fast inside her chest. She was taking the biggest risk of her life, except in the near future when she will move to New York City and try (and succeed) to make it as a broadway actress. But this? This seemed even more serious.

"You have to promise me something then.

His breathing became hitched. He tried not to show her he was nervous. He had come back for this. And if she walked away now, he would have no choice but to return to Carmel High with his tail between his legs like a stupid puppy. A kicked puppy. And his pride would be mortally wounded forever.

You can't hurt me again. I really couldn't take it. And….no more eggs, okay?"

He smiled and pulled her in for a hug, kissing the top of her head. He missed the way she folded into his arms just right, how her hair brushed against the sides of his biceps, how her breathing felt against his chest.

"I promise to never hurt you ever again." He kissed her lips, and in a moment he was pulled back in to how wonderful she was, how good she tasted, how much he missed her.

This was all happening so fast. She almost couldn't handle it, but the way she pulled her in…it felt real. It felt right. She was finally back to where she belonged, her home. She felt at home wherever he was. Maybe it was that Romeo and Juliet love story they had, except this time, it was like Juliet had lived, Romeo had never died, and at this point, they had all lived happily ever after.

Jesse just happened to look out the slightly cracked door, to see an angry Quinn on the warpath.

"Jesse? Rachel? Okay, what the hell is going on in here?"


End file.
